Male Kitty Feeding Help

[punkrockkitty]

Hi all. I posted some questions in the cat health forum last week because my 5 1/2 month old was starting to have soft stools. I switched his food after this whole episode, so I thought I’d post in the cat nutrition forum instead since my questions are more food-related in the end.

He was on Hill’s Healthy Advantage dry and wet (my vet’s recommendation) and I wasn’t so keen on it. My previous cat died from IBD-turned-to-lymphoma complications and had been on a bunch of Hill’s products her whole life (again, my vet’s recommendation).

I’d been debating for a while whether to give my new kitty a wet food only diet to avoid UTIs and the like, so I opted for Whole Earth Farms real chicken canned formula. It’s grain-free and all life stages. He’s been off of dry food for over a week now and so far the stools seem to be back to normal.

Ideally, along with the canned food, I would like to maybe find him a good dry food that I can give him in very small amounts, like say 1/4 cup split in two for the whole day. He’s the kind of cat that’s a bit obsessed with eating and begs and begs and begs and I feel that canned food doesn’t satisfy his needs that much. I’m not used to an all-wet diet, so I'm not sure whether I'm not feeding him enough. I give him half a 5oz. can in the morning and then the other half at night - is this good? He weighs around 6.5 lbs (I think).

I also read that having some grains is best for males, or that grain-free dry food has some issues with males (but not grain-free canned). So this would be the ideal scenario: I would give him 75% grain-free wet food, but throw in 25% dry food that has some "good" grains. But like what are good grains?? Any recommendations or advice?

Thanks in advance!

 

[di and bob]

Research it on the internet by researching teh reviews. PEOPLE who have had experience with these dry foods are the best to listen to. If it is not a good one for their cats they definitely will post it. That is what I do, but I'm not the one to ask for the best. I feed Too many cats. I give mine a Purina One because it is cheaper and has meat as a first ingredient. They also get canned. (friskies) My outside cats get purina regular just because they like it the best and i have been feeding that for years. There are many on this site that can help you better, keep trying!

 

[punkrockkitty]

Yeah, I've been researching brands non-stop, kinda gives me a headache...

I guess I mostly want to hear what people have to say on grain-free dry vs. grain-filled dry for male cats in general. I know it's a heated debate.

And also, what's considered a "good" type of grain, if any such thing exists?

 

[di and bob]

LOL! it all gives me a headache too. Lentils, brown rice, some of those kinds are good. Corn is bad. I have fed cheap brands forever, just started with better brands. I feed whatever they will eat really, it does no good to spend money on food that they will not eat. My cats get mice and rabbits too though, so they are more 'balanced'

 

[LTS3]

The amount of food doesn't matter for still growing kittens. Some kittens can eat a whole 5.5 oz can plus maybe half of another one or even more daily.

The Whole Farms canned foods are about 143 calories per 5.5 oz can. For a growing kitten, that's a bit low. If you kitten seems "obsessed" with food and always begging for more, it's likely he's still very hungry. Add half of another can of food to the daily meals and increase if needed. Kittens have small tummies so ideally they should be offered a few meals daily. Two meals isn't enough. You can leave canned food out all day. A programmable timed feeder works well. Canned food is a cooked product so it won't go bad if left out for a day.

Or leave some dry food out. Many people feel that there is no "good" grain so they feed a grain-free dry food. Some cats regardless of gender are sensitive to grains while others actually do better with some grains. You'll just have to see what works best for your kitten. Nature's Variety Instinct has a kitten dry food, and canned, if you want to give it a try: Instinct® Original Grain-Free Recipe with Real Chicken for Kittens | Instinct Pet Food

 

[duckpond]

It can all be very confusing, and gives me a head ache too! I have two males and two females inside, they all get offered wet twice a day, a variety. And i free feed Dr. Elseys dry. It is the lowest carb dry i can find. The outside stray cats i feed, get wet, and the best dry i can find locally that is on sale, so that varies a bit. and funny they don't like the "better" brands of dry or wet when i try to feed it to them.

Free feeding Dr. Elseys chicken formula dry food to my 4 cats, along with the two wet meals a day, 1 of the 6 lb bags last 4 to 5 weeks. A little seems to keep them happy, no one over eats, but they all like it.

I am not fond of grains, corn, potatoes, peas, fruits or vegetables in cat food, but i honestly cannot say anything i have read really convinces me that one is better than the other, or worse than the other. I try to follow the philosophy of High protein, meat based protein not plant based protein, moderate fat, and low carb, in both wet and dry food. Its hard! and even a lot of grain free food is high carb, dry and wet food both. I calculate the carbs in all my food, and try to stay around, or below the 10% mark. Dr. Elseys is the only dry food i feed that does that. I feed some Farmina dry, at about 17% carbs, but i don't free feed it, just as a snack or mini meal. i don't know as one grain, or other plant based product in cat food is better than an other one, i suggest find a dry you can afford, as low carb as possible, and that your cat enjoys. If it agrees with him i wouldn't really worry about which of the plant products it has in it, do try to find one that has more meat ingredients for the first few on the label, not a plant like corn as the first ingredient. I order on chewy a lot and i know several of their dry foods that they have smaller bags so you can try them out. with wet food i try to do the same, but you also have to watch fat in wet food, i want more protein than fat in the food.

use this site CatFoodDB - Cat Food Reviews to help you find the best cat food for your cat for a quick check on food quite a bit. Good luck finding one you both like!

 

[punkrockkitty]

Thanks for the input, it’s much appreciated! Feeding cats is sooooo complicated sometimes, it’s crazy! I know that it’s gonna be trial and error for a while until I find something that works for him.

Right now, as much as he seems to love Whole Earth Farms canned food, something still makes him have some soft stools every other day, so I’m not sure whether it’s the food transition taking a while or the “no-grains” part. He has really nice stools one day, but then next day, total mush… It’s weird.

Is it possible that the fact that he’s only having wet food suddenly makes his stools soft? I'm guessing so, but I know there’s a fine line between soft and liquid. He’s already been dewormed 6 times and a stool sample came back negative, so I’m guessing it’s something in the food. Though, what...?

I bought a Weruva Pumpkin pouch last night and have started giving this to him to see whether it’ll help. Fingers crossed.

In the meantime, I’m leaning towards Tiki Carnivore Chicken Luau dry or the Merrick Purrfect Bistro kitten dry as possible add-ons. Anyone ever try these with success?

 

[punkrockkitty]

So, I realize this is turning into a slightly different topic than was originally intended to be - best types of food for male cats, etc. - but I spoke to a vet technician yesterday and she said that no, wet-only diets are not supposed to produce softer stools, that cats are meant to absorb this extra moisture, adapt to it and produce normal stools.

Right now, my kitty is still not having nice stools - quite the contrary, it's now been 4 days that he hasn't managed to produce a well-formed stool at all (with the odd exception yesterday morning, when I thought this might finally be all over, but then, wham). I would say that his stools have gone from soft to more diarrhea-like even.

I'm still feeding him some pumpkin and have now added some ProGut powder, hoping this will help. But I'm feeling a bit discouraged...

Any suggestions? Switch food asap? Give it some more time, some more probiotics? See the vet?

 

[duckpond]

so did they also test, or treat for coxcidia or giardia, those can also cause diarrhea and can be hard to get rid of. If no i would take him to the vet for test, and or treatment of those type of things.

if yes, the I would switch foods, find a dry one you like, i used Merrick kitten dry food, use it only, no wet, for maybe 2 or 3 days, see if the stool is better? Then start slowly adding back in wet food and see how it goes? Im not sure putting more pumpkin or probiotics would help, and more isn't always better, can make matters worse.

 

[punkrockkitty]

I just called the clinic where he had his test done and they said that yes, they check for giardia. She wasn't sure about coxcidia, but after speaking for a while, the receptionist said that given his symptoms (normal looking diarrhea with no mucus or blood), he most likely doesn't have it... He also received some Panacur before getting this test done, so it should technically rule out giardia at least. I guess I could always re-do the test just to be sure sure..?

I read that even with wet food only diets, a 1 to 2 week period of digestive trouble can still happen between transitions. Apparently, it should be a little less troublesome when going with grain-free canned food, but maybe he's ultra sensitive.

I think I'll follow your advice for now and give him the Merrick dry for the next 2-3 days and see how he does. He doesn't like dry food much, so I'm hoping he'll at least eat!

 

[duckpond]

I just called the clinic where he had his test done and they said that yes, they check for giardia. She wasn't sure about coxcidia, but after speaking for a while, the receptionist said that given his symptoms (normal looking diarrhea with no mucus or blood), he most likely doesn't have it... He also received some Panacur before getting this test done, so it should technically rule out giardia at least. I guess I could always re-do the test just to be sure sure..?

I read that even with wet food only diets, a 1 to 2 week period of digestive trouble can still happen between transitions. Apparently, it should be a little less troublesome when going with grain-free canned food, but maybe he's ultra sensitive.

I think I'll follow your advice for now and give him the Merrick dry for the next 2-3 days and see how he does. He doesn't like dry food much, so I'm hoping he'll at least eat!

Good luck, i hope it works for you. Thats what worked for my kitten when he was young and had so much problems. He did have giardia and coccidia both though, so what works for one might not the other, i don't know. I would say give it a try, main thing is to keep him eating and drinking. If he is still not better in a week or so maybe they can test again. It actually took several months to get my kitten over all of his issues, bad diarrhea. he never threw up. Last few years he has a rock solid digestive system... lol he can and does, eat everything, except food with peas, and has no problem what so ever